Leave it to Fate
by Inspector Spinda
Summary: It's Christmas time, which means it also happens to be the birthday of our favorite Inspector! But with Lupin still on the loose Zenigata sees no reason to celebrate. The holidays are a rough time of year for him, starting with the winter he first met our monkey-faced thief.
1. Just a Pickpocket

**A/N: This is my last second attempt at a Christmas fic. I literally wrote this in two days so don't expect a masterpiece.**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter One-<span> Just a Pickpocket**

**_December 25, 1971_**

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><p>Zenigata removed snow from his pockets and tossed it out the window of the police station. The Commissioner sighed as he watched his best officer brush stray snowflakes from atop his hat and straighten his attire. The Inspector had recently returned from overseas. Whatever he had experienced during his time as an ambassador with the Paris police had changed him. He was still every bit a brilliant criminal investigator, in fact, he seemed more perceptive than ever. But instead of the optimistic, cocky young detective he had welcomed onto the force twenty years ago was gone, in his place was a hardened, brooding Inspector who didn't talk or smile much.<p>

"Zenigata-keibu, you've been working round the clock since you returned from Paris, while don't you take a few days off and go home, relax and return to work after the new year?" he suggested.

"Crime doesn't rest, Commissioner." Zenigata replied simply. "And as long as Lupin is out there, neither will I."

"I'll have another officer take care of Lupin this time around." he reassured him. "You've already done far more for his department than a dozen officers are expected to."

Zenigata looked around the station. "No one here has a chance of getting him. Besides, I'm in charge of the Lupin case; therefore both his actions and arrest are my responsibility. Right now in the west, there are countless men being arrested for crimes they haven't committed and men who have been put to death with no justification. I'm not doing this for the law or "justice". This is a matter of pride. In these troubling times it's all we really have. So trust me when I say Commissioner, I will arrest Lupin the Third."

The Commissioner looked at the Inspector sadly. "I understand this time of year isn't the happiest for you," he said finally. "But that is precisely why you must consider taking some time off for yourself."

"Years ago, right outside this station as I was coming in for my shift I met him for the first time. If I had known then, the kind of trouble he would put me through, I probably would have stayed home that day." He smiled a bit. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew they were lie. Even back then, he went through cases almost obsessively, never turning down a single one that made its way onto his desk. He could have relived that day a thousand times and it probably wouldn't have ended any differently.

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><p><strong><em>December 23, 1955<em>**

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><p>"Alright, gotcha!" Zenigata cried as he leapt out in front of the boy and picked him up off the ground. The kid squirmed and kicked in the officer's grip, but Zenigata refused to let go. He held the boy upside down, exposing several stolen pocketbooks which fell out of the boy's pockets and onto the freshly falling snow.<p>

"Care to tell me who these belong to?" he asked, sternly, setting the boy down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he darted off in the opposite direction, turned the corner and disappeared.

Zenigata sighed. There was no point in chasing him. It wasn't as if he would arrest a child. Besides, he had gotten what he needed. He picked up the wallets. The boy was too well dressed to have been homeless. He hoped getting caught would be enough to put the boy off taking what didn't belong to him. He wanted to get off from work early and go home for the holidays, instead of working overtime, worrying about pickpockets.

He entered the police station which had been decorated for the holidays. A small pine tree sat in a corner with several multi-colored bulbs hanging from its branches. Cut out characters hung from the ceiling to spell, _"Merry Christmas"_ in Japanese.

"Zeni-kun!" the Commissioner cried as soon as he entered the station. "There's a new case on your desk. Be sure to start working on it right away. This one's especially troubling."

"Yes, sir!" he smiled, saluting to his superior.

To him, being a police officer was the greatest job in the world, and as much as he hated to admit, he could sometimes be a workaholic. But even he even knew there were things more important than his job; like his beautiful wife and their new baby daughter, and as he browsed through his case files, he found himself pleasantly distracted by the thought of them.

"Koichi!" a voice cried, snapping him out of his daydream. "Hey, Koichi!"

"Um?"

"What's the matter with you, huh? You shallow some snow on the way here?" Takeshi chuckled. "I was asking you whether you ever visited that foreign language tutor I suggested."

"Oh, yeah." Zenigata said, "I arranged a few more sessions with him after the holidays."

"You think you'll learn enough before they ship you off?"

"If not, I'll learn when I get there." Zenigata replied. "As long as I can say 'hello' and order ramen at restaurants I'll be fine."

Takeshi raised an eyebrow and stared at him skeptically. "I don't think they have ramen in France."

"Then I'll just bring some with me." he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Takeshi rolled his eyes, and then turned to look out the window as an overweight woman dressed in traditional Japanese garments waddling in carrying a fluffy dog in her arms run pass the police station.

"Stop thief!" the woman cried, through her pace was far too slow to catch any sort of escapee.

"Hey! Where are you going!" Takeshi cried as Zenigata got up and head to the door. "Come on, leave this to one of the other officers." he advised.

"I have to check on something." Zenigata replied, wrapping his scarf around his neck. Any other time, he would have heeded his friend's advice. But the current circumstances begged for him to look into it himself.

He tossed his partner the stolen wallets he had confiscated. "There should be IDs inside there. Return them to whoever they belong to." he ordered.

Takeshi blinked as he watched Zenigata exit the station. "What are you giving these to me for!? I have work to do too you know!"

"Did you see what the thief looked like, ma'am?" Zenigata asked the woman.

"Yes. He was a little boy about this tall." she raised her hand to show him how tall.

Zenigata sighed. This is what he got for being so naive. So much for having a relaxing holiday...

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><p>Zenigata reached for the handcuffs he keep in his coat pocket. Maybe that was a bit extreme. After all, he was still just a kid. Maybe he could just take him back to his parents and after them give him a scolding.<p>

He continued following the boy's footprints through the streets and sped up as he realized they were leading to the market district. Running to the busiest part of town would mean his snow footprints would be indistinguishable from the dozens of others. Clever, but Zenigata could be clever too.

He leapt onto a stack of crates and lifted himself onto the roof of a fruit stand. "Attention, citizens of Tokyo!" he shouted, as people began to gather around him. "I have an important announcement!"

He waited till the people had gathered into a sizable crowd, then scanned the area beyond the mob, where the streets were nearly empty. He had spotted his suspect. "There you are." he grinned, leaping off the roof and pushing his way through the crowd. "Continue with whatever you were doing! Sorry for the interruption!" he apologized to the grumbling crowd.

He chased the boy down the street and into an alley where he dove, grabbing the kid and pinning him down. "Non! Non!" he cried.

"Alright kid, you have some explaining to do."

"Non!" the boy shouted, struggling, but Zenigata wasn't about to loosen his grip on him after his disappearing act the last time.

"Just tell me what your name is."

"Non!"

"Is that even Japanese? Do you speak Japanese?" No response.

The boy folded his arms and pouted. He didn't look frightened or worried, just extremely irritated. Getting a closer look at him, Zenigata realized just how young a kid he was. He couldn't have been more than 10 years old. He was unmistakably Caucasian, through there were some hints of Asian decent on his face. _What is a foreigner doing here?_

He decided to test something. _"You are French correct? Can you understand me?"_

The boy burst out in laughter. _"That's terrible! Your accent!" _Zenigata frowned. It hadn't sounded too bad to him.

"I know Japanese too so no worries." he said.

_He was playing with me! _Zenigata realized, suddenly furious. _Well I show him._

"Don't take it too hard, I didn't expect you to know French at all." he replied, noticing the Inspector's frustration.

"You're a real troublemaker, you know." Zenigata held out his hand, "Now return what you stole."

"What are you taking about."

"Don't play dumb kid!" Zenigata shouted.

"I have a name, ya know! It's Arsène!" Zenigata ignored him and started feeling through his pockets.

"Help, pedophile!" the Arsène cried. Zenigata quickly clamped his hand over the boy's mouth.

"Stop trying to make a scene!" he hissed. He noticed several people had turned their heads to stare at them. He chuckled, embarrassed. "Don't pay attention to us. I'm not suspicious."

"You realize that just made you sound a thousand times more suspicious, right?" Arsène said.

Zenigata smiled as he found a diamond embedded dog collar hidden under the boy's scarf. He grabbed Arsène by the hand. "You're coming with me to apologize to the lady you took this from."

"Let go! Let go! Kidnapper!" he shouted.

For once Zenigata was grateful he appeared on the news so frequently.

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><p><strong>AN: Zenigata has no reaction to Lupin's name because Lupin I and II were active mostly in Europe and America so most people in Japan have never heard of them. Yet...**


	2. That's Life

**Chapter Two-**** That's Life**

**_December 23th, 1955_**

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><p>"Is this really necessary?" Takeshi asked.<p>

"Yes." Zenigata replied curtly. He had handcuffed Arsène to the chair, preventing him from running.

"I'm bored." Arsène huffed.

"We'll take you home once you apologize." Zenigata decided.

"Sorry you have to live with such a pig." Arsène said, addressing the dog in the woman's arms. Zenigata slapped himself in the face and groaned.

The woman let out a 'hmp!' before snatching up the collar and exiting the station. Arsène stuck her tongue out at her as she left then turned to Zenigata and said, "Can I go now?"

Zenigata grabbed the keys to his police scooter off his desk and shoved them into his pocket. "Come on."

"I can go myself, you know."

"Oh no you don't. I want to have a talk with your parents." he replied, as the engine hummed softly. He mounted the motorcycle and seated Arsène behind him.

"So how do you know French?" Arsène asked, trying to make conversation as they plowed from dusty roads.

"I've been learning it in my free time."

"Why?"

"You're really nosy." he grumbled. Arsène shrugged. "I'm being reassigned to France to the police force in France in a few weeks." then he added, quickly. "But don't you think that's your okay to resume what you were doing today! I'm not the only good cop on the force you know!"

"That has to sucks." Arsène said, hastily. "Having to go to France I mean."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well if I learned anything since coming here it's that people hate foreigners. I guess it's only natural with all the wars going on. I bet they treat you like crap when you get there." He shrugged then added, "Good luck."

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><p>"This is the place."<p>

Zenigata pulled over to the side of the house and gawked. It was the biggest mansion he had ever seen. What the Hell was this kid stealing for? He walked up the steps to the mansion and knocked on the door. A moment later it was opened by a man with long, messy brown hair dressed in western style clothing.

_"Arsène, where have you been?" _he scolded in French.

_"Sorry, Uncle."_

The man turned to face Zenigata. "Thank you for bringing him back officer." he bowed, pulling Arsène into the house.

"Just a moment, I want to talk." Zenigata said, sticking his foot in the doorway. "I caught you nephew pickpocketing. Next time, I catch him breaking the law, I will not be as lenient."

The man shot Arsène a stern look, but Arsène simply shrugged. "Thank you, officer. I'll be sure to talk to him about it."

Zenigata nodded, but he wasn't quite convince. However, he didn't bother to push any further. Arsène stuck his head through the door and whispered a last "Bye!" before his uncle closed the door.

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><p><strong><em>December 24th, 1955<em>**

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><p>Zenigata sat as his desk, staring at the ceiling. The sooner he solved this case the better. He had already compiled a brief list of suspects.<p>

"Hey Koichi." Takeshi said, suddenly. "That kid from yesterday's here to see you."

"What?!" Zenigata cried, sitting up suddenly.

"Yo, Tottsan!" Arsène cried, leaning over the Inspector's desk. Takeshi chuckled and walked back to his desk, earning a betrayed glare from his partner.

Zenigata bit his bottom lip to stop it from quivering. "What... are... you doing here?" he said, fighting to keep his temper. He had, had enough of this kid yesterday. He wasn't about to go through it again. In two days it would be his birthday (and Christmas) and chasing child pickpockets was NOT on his to-do list.

"I was bored." Arsène said, simply. "And I remember hanging out with you yesterday was pretty exciting."

"That makes one of us." he grumbled, then he added, "Don't you have anyone your own age you could be hanging out with?"

"I told you, people don't like foreigners." He walked around to the other side of the desk. "I got you a present, Merry early-Christmas." He pulled out a brown hat hand stuck it on the Inspector's head. Zenigata examined the hat and stared at Arsène with a look of suspicion.

"Don't worry, I didn't steal it." Arsène said, rolling his eyes. He grinned, "I heard stress can make you loose your hair, so that's to cover the bald spot."

"I don't have any." Zenigata replied, putting his hand on the top of his head to make sure.

Arsène shrugged, "Better safe than sorry, Tottsan."

"Stop calling me that! I'm not your father!"

"Well, you never told me your name."

"That's cause it's none of your business."

Arsène plopped down in a chair. "So what kind of case are you working on?"

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><p>Arsène slurped the remain soup in his bowl and let out a satisfied 'ahhh!'.<p>

"You've really never had ramen before?" Arsène shook his head. He had taken the boy out to lunch, after hours of Arsène whining about his boredom and him explaining that police work wasn't the same as it was in movies and books.

"Yesterday was pretty fun." Arsène had commented. "If everyday was like that I wouldn't mind being a police officer. There's no point in doing a job that's not fun."

Zenigata couldn't help smiling. He remembered when he was little, listening to his father's stories of his greatest cases and those of his ancestor Heiji Zenigata back in the days of Edo. Growing up with tales of adventure, only to realized reality worked a bit differently.

"You don't go into police work to have fun." Zenigata had said.

"Then why do you do it?"

"Because I believe in doing the right thing." Arsène rolled his eyes. "My ancestors have been detectives since before the Bakumatsu."

"Really?" he said, clearly impressed. "My grandpa and dad were both... _involved_ in the wars."

"They're soldiers?" Zenigata asked, suddenly considering the possibility this boy might be an orphan.

"Something like that." Arsène shrugged. "And when I grow up, I'm going to continue their legacy. The world'll always have problems to there's no point in wasting your life trying to fix it all. No one can live forever so the best you can do is have fun and hope you and do a bit of good along the way."

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><p>Zenigata twirled his chopsticks through his bowl of ramen, occasionally picking at it, but never taking a bite.<p>

"Koichi, what's the matter? You been sitting there for half a hour and haven't even touched your food."

"Oh, sorry darling. I was just thinking."

"I thought we agreed you weren't allowed to think while you were off-duty." she joked affectionately. "Where did you get this?"

Zenigata looked up. Haruhi was holding up the hat Arsène had given him. "It was a present from a friend."

"Takeshi-san?"

"Someone outside of work." Zenigata replied, unsure of how weird befriending a pickpocketing 10 year old from France would sound.

She placed the hat on his head. The brim fell over his eyes and she laughed. "You should wear it more often. It looks cute on you." She offered him a peck on the cheek causing Zenigata to blush madly.

"So you do have any specific plans for tomorrow?" she asked, lifting their daughter out of her crib and bringing her over to sit on her father's lap.

Toshiko, the most beautiful and precious child anyone could ask for. He wanted her to grow up in a world without the chaos and wars he had experienced in his lifetime. That's what being an officer meant to him. Toshiko and Haruhi were his whole world. All he had been thinking about for the past few months was how much he was going to miss seeing them once he left for France. But he had already made up his mind to save enough for both of them join him once he was settled and Toshiko was old enough to travel.

"I be dropping by the office for a bit, but only to take care of some minor things. I'll be home by 1 at the latest and we can spend the rest of the year together." he promised.

"That sounds lovely."


	3. Lonely Christmas

**Chapter Three- Lonely Christmas**

**_December 25, 1955_**

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><p>The streets were lively with the sound of music and people cheering. Street performers dancing and told stories. Shop venders shouted about their wares.<p>

Zenigata passed it all, in more of a hurry than usual, determined to get his shift finished as quickly as possible so that he could he home. Suddenly, something in a store window caught his attention.

He stopped and entered the store. A bell hanging in the doorway jingled, informing the shopkeeper he had customers. "Merry Christmas, Inspector. How may I help you?"

"How much would that plane in the window cost?" The shopkeeper named he amount and Zenigata got out his wallet as the man fetched the plane and wrapped it in festive paper.

"I'm sure you son would love it."

_I'm sure he would._

He thanked the man and continued to the station with the model plane tucked under his arm. Maybe having something productive to do with his hands would keep them off of other people's possessions.

As he opened the door to the station, he heard the click of a weapon. On instinct, he pulled out his own gun and aimed it at the source of the noise.

"Drop the gun and put your hands in the air!" a man shouted. He was holding a gun in one hand and a hostage in the other. Zenigata's eyes widened in horror as he realized who the hostage was.

"Koi-chan!"

"Haruhi!" he shouted. "Let go of her!"

"Are you deaf?! Drop the goddamn gun!" his partner cried. He was holding a machine gun and going around the room, point it at anyone who moved.

Zenigata gritted his teeth and reluctantly tossed the gun aside. He scanned the room. Most of the other officers had been relieved of their duties and were at home. The station was mostly empty except for Takeshi, the Commissioner and a few other low ranked officers.

"What do you want?" the Commissioner asked.

"Release everyone from the cells in the back and we'll be on our way."

Zenigata seethed. The man was asking for the impossible. Some of the man in the back cells were small time thieves, but just as many were killers, men he had spent countless hours tracking and putting away. They were dangerous. But if he had to choose between their release and Haruhi's life, the answer was obvious.

"Commissioner-"

"It's the life of one woman versus countless others I-"

"For Heaven's sake Commissioner!" Takeshi cried, butting in. "They'll be releasing them all whether or not we comply."

"This one's smart." the man holding on to Haruhi said, "You would to well to listen to him, Commissioner."

Suddenly Zenigata noticed Arsène peeking out from his hiding place behind the Inspector's desk. _Arsène, whatever you're thinking of doing please stop! _he prayed. One wrong move and the gunman would pull the trigger, and his life would be over.

Arsène spotted him and waved, giving him the thumbs up signal. _Stop, stop, stop! _Zenigata willed, desperately, through he didn't dare say anything for fear the men would decided to shoot the boy instead.

As the Commissioner, went to the back, followed by the man with the machine gun, Arsène leapt out of his hiding place, kicking the handgun out of the remaining intruder's hands and allowing Haruhi to escape his grasp. Zenigata rushed to her and held her in his arms.

"It's going to be alright. It's over." he whispered, kissing her forehead.

"I came to keep you company." she explained, smiling weakly.

Zenigata was lost for words. "I'm so happy you're alright." he said finally.

Arsène had positioned himself on top of the man's shoulders and wrapped his arms around the man's eyes, causing him to stumble blind and collapse onto the ground. "Get off me you brat!" he cried.

"Don't move." Zenigata commanded, getting up and pulling Arsène away from the man. He picked up his gun and pointed the barrel at the man's head.

"What's gone on here!" the man with the machine gun shouted, reentering the room. He begun firing his weapon aimlessly, in attempt to regain control of the station.

Zenigata drove the group, grabbing the person nearest to him which happened to be Arsène. "GET DOWN!" he shouted.

After a moment, the sounds of gunfire vanished. Zenigata peered over the desktop to see the Commissioner holding the gunman in a headlock. Zenigata raised his gun and shot the man in the leg. He ceased his resistance and fell to the ground where the Commissioner put him in cuffs. Zenigata let out a sigh. It was over.

Just then, one of the female officers screamed. Zenigata turned his gaze and stared for a moment in horror before rushing to his wife's side. "Haruhi!" he shouted. "Someone call a doctor!"

He turned back to Haruhi, his eyes streaming with tears. "It's going to be alright. You're going to live."

Haruhi smiled, putting a hand to his cheek to stop his crying. "Happy Birthday, darling."

"Not without you. Not without you."

Arsène peered over his shoulder, unsure of what to say. It was obvious that the woman would be dead long before any doctors would arrive, if any came at all. Finally he simply placed a comforting hand on the Inspector's arm. "I'm sorry."

It would be a long time before the Inspector smiled again. And even when he did, Arsène was sure that for as long as he lived, his birthdays would never be happy.

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><p><strong><em>January 3, 1956<em>**

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><p>Zenigata shut his eyes, hoping that he would eventually wake up to find it had all just been nothing more than a dream. If he willed hard enough he would wake up to Haruhi's beautiful voice again. But Haruhi would never come back.<p>

"They were truly terrible people." a voice said from behind a tree.

"That would mean more if it didn't come from the mouth of a thief, Arsène Lupin the Third." Arsène stared at him in shock. "I looked you up in the police files. You share your name with you father and grandfather. Your father was arrested briefly for theft, but since he was still a minor, he was let off. But that doesn't change the facts." he turned to Arsène. "Your family legacy is thievery."

"You make it sound so terrible when you say it like that." Arsène whined, then added in a more serious tone. "But even I would never steal another person's life." Arsène replied, putting a half wilted flower in front of the grave. "That's the worst crime there is." There was a moment of silence.

"Thanks for the plane by the way." Arsène added, unsure of what else to say. Zenigata didn't respond.

"At least you still have Toshiko."

"Child services is coming to get her tomorrow." Zenigata said finally.

"What?!" Arsène cried.

"She's too young... I-I can't t-take care of her." he stammered, biting back tears.

"That's nonsense! I'll get her back for you!" Arsène insisted.

"That's kidnapping and you better not do it to my daughter!" Arsène flinched.

"Next week I'll be going to France. And she'll be gone. I'll never see her again." He pulled he his hat over his eyes and continued. "You better keep your act together when I'm gone. Don't get caught."

Arsène blinked. He had said, 'don't _get caught_'. Maybe he had misspoke? He turned to ask him what he had meant, but the Inspector had disappeared. It didn't matter. Their paths would undoubtedly cross again one day. He would make sure of it.

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><p><strong><em>December 25, 1971<em>**

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><p>"Zenigata-kun." the Commissioner said, taking Zenigata away from his thoughts. "I have something to show you. But once I've shown you, you must promise not to come back to work until the year is over."<p>

Without waiting for the Inspector to reply, he took out a piece of paper from underneath his lapel and handed it to the Inspector.

"What is this?" Zenigata asked, staring at the paper which had an address scribbled onto it in neat characters.

"It took many hours, but eventually I was able to track down the orphanage your daughter has been living in all these years. Since you're back I think it's about time you paid her a visit."

Zenigata was stunned for a moment, unable to believe what he had just heard. He pulled his hat over his eyes to hide his tears of joy and saluted. "Thank you sir! I don't know how I can repay you!"

The Commissioner patted him on the back. "No need for thanks. Now you better get going."

"Yes, sir. Thank you!" Zenigata said, his chest swelling with joy. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too!" the Commissioner grinned, waving as Zenigata darted out of the office. "And Happy Birthday, Pops."


End file.
